Eddie Kopaczynski on Kodak's Graphic Users Association

Cary Sherburne: Hi, I’m Cary Sherburne, Senior Editor at WhatTheyThink; and I’m here with Eddie Kopaczynski, who is the Graphics Manager for Graphic Packaging International, and your office anyway is in beautiful Concord, New Hampshire.

Eddie Kopaczynski: It is, yes. Beautiful New England.

Cary Sherburne: New England. So first, why don’t you start by just giving us a little brief summary on the business?

Eddie Kopaczynski: Graphics Packaging is headquartered in Marietta, Georgia. We’re a $4 billion converter of folding cartons, also do some multi well bag and label printing as well.

Cary Sherburne: That’s great. And we’re here today to talk a little bit about your participation as a board member in the Graphic Users Association, which is the Kodak users group, so can you talk a little bit about, you know, you’re a busy person, it’s a hectic lifestyle, I’m sure. But you’re giving of your time to be on the board for this group and to participate in it, why do you do that?

Eddie Kopaczynski: I believe that as an industry, we can’t lose sight of the fact that we’re all into this digital world together and that the ability to share that information about files, formats, processes, procedures really is imperative to make sure we grow as an industry and take us to where we need to go with, you know, with our production.

Cary Sherburne: So when you go to the meetings then, you’re able to interface with technical people as well as maybe some of the executives from Kodak as well as your peers sharing best practices, that kind of thing.

Eddie Kopaczynski: Absolutely. You know, we get unparalleled support from the developers, senior management, really to ask those questions sometimes that you want to ask, but you don’t have that outlet. And it’s really helped me and certainly my colleagues a lot.

Cary Sherburne: And as, I think it’s also really great to have the personal interaction with them. So if you do talk to them on the phone, you’ve kind of a face – you’ve got a relationship and that probably really helps as well.

Eddie Kopaczynski: It does. You make those personal connections and you can kind of talk to people off the records sometimes as well, which really is a valuable thing.

Cary Sherburne: That’s great. And so the next GUA meeting, because you just had one in 2012, right?

Eddie Kopaczynski: Right, January, 2012, was in New Orleans, Louisiana and great takeaways from that.

Cary Sherburne: And the next one? Is that planned yet?

Eddie Kopaczynski: The next one is in process and they’re looking at the middle of next year.

Cary Sherburne: Oh, 2013.

Eddie Kopaczynski: Yeah, 2013. A couple of sites are up in the air. I voted for Hawaii, but, I think that got shot down…

Cary Sherburne: Well hopefully it’ll be somewhere that’s not too warm if it’s in June, right?

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